Stop, look, listen: the need for philosophical phenomenological perspectives on auditory verbal hallucinations.
Simon McCarthy-Jones, Joel Krueger, Frank Larøi, Matthew R Broome, Charles Fernyhough
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience April 9, 2013 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00127 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Schizophrenia Psychosis Hallucination Interdisciplinary |
| Key points | Argues that the leading cognitive model of auditory verbal hallucinations, which traces them to disturbed self-attribution of inner speech, has developed without adequate phenomenological and cognitive study of inner speech itself. Proposes that philosophical phenomenology and empirical psychology must mutually inform each other, and that future AVH research requires both phenomenology and physiology, neither being sufficient alone. |
Abstract
One of the leading cognitive models of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) proposes such experiences result from a disturbance in the process by which inner speech is attributed to the self. Research in this area has, however, proceeded in the absence of thorough cognitive and phenomenological investigations of the nature of inner speech, against which AVHs are implicitly or explicitly defined. In this paper we begin by introducing philosophical phenomenology and highlighting its relevance to AVHs, before briefly examining the evolving literature on the relation between inner experiences and AVHs. We then argue for the need for philosophical phenomenology (Phenomenology) and the traditional empirical methods of psychology for studying inner experience (phenomenology) to mutually inform each other to provide a richer and more nuanced picture of both inner experience and AVHs than either could on its own. A critical examination is undertaken of the leading model of AVHs derived from phenomenological philosophy, the ipseity disturbance model. From this we suggest issues that future work in this vein will need to consider, and examine how interdisciplinary methodologies may contribute to advances in our understanding of AVHs. Detailed suggestions are made for the direction and methodology of future work into AVHs, which we suggest should be undertaken in a context where phenomenology and physiology are both necessary, but neither sufficient.
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Citations in the library
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- Disembodied Language in Early-Onset Schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022
- An Exploration of Multilinguals’ Voice-Hearing Experiences Language and Psychoanalysis May 15, 2022
- Visual and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia and Their Relation to Self-Disorders. Psychopathology 2026
- From neuronal to mental topography - Neurophenomenology of auditory hallucinations. Translational Psychiatry November 21, 2025
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Cites 7
- Guiding the study of brain dynamics by using first-person data: Synchrony patterns correlate with ongoing conscious states during a simple visual task Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 22, 2002
- Re-expanding the phenomenology of hallucinations: lessons from sixteenth-century Spain Mental Health, Religion & Culture February 16, 2010
- A new phenomenological survey of auditory hallucinations: evidence for subtypes and implications for theory and practice. Schizophrenia Bulletin January 2014
- The metacognitive beliefs account of hallucinatory experiences: a literature review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review July 2011
- A disturbed sense of self in the psychosis prodrome: linking phenomenology and neurobiology. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews January 20, 2009
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